Lancaster, Pennsylvania City Council Passes Resolution Calling for Reallocation of Funding from the Pentagon to Meeting Domestic Needs

Brad Wolf and others coordinate Nonviolent Lancaster, PA, which is part of Pace e Bene’s Nonviolent Cities Project. On August 9, five Lancaster residents, including Wolf, spoke at a city council meeting in favor of a resolution supporting the International Day of Peace (September 21), promoting nonviolence, and asking Congress to move money out of the Pentagon. The resolution passed unanimously. The effort brought together local members of Peace Action Network of Lancaster and World BEYOND War.

The text of the resolution is as follows:

FILE OF THE CITY CLERK

COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 68 – 2022

INTRODUCED – AUGUST 9, 2022

ADOPTED BY COUNCIL –

A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LANCASTER RECOGNIZING THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE ON SEPTEMBER 21ST AND URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO REDUCE ITS FUNDING TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND REALLOCATE THOSE FUNDS TO DOMESTIC NEEDS WITH THE GOAL OF A MORE PEACEFUL WORLD AND AN ENHANCED QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.

WHEREAS, the United States is a member state of the United Nations which has ratified the Charter of the United Nations which states, “We the peoples of the United Nations [are] determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and so reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small…;” and

WHEREAS, the United Nations declared September 21 as the International Day of Peace with the goal of strengthening the ideals of peace and promoting non-violence; and

WHEREAS, Congress approved a $778 billion military budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which consumes 51 percent of every federal income tax dollar, and consumes an estimated 52 percent of the entire federal discretionary budget; and

WHEREAS, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States taxpayers in 2020 paid more for their military than the combined military expenditures of China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan; and

WHEREAS, according to the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, spending $1 billion on domestic priorities produces “substantially more jobs within the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military;” and

WHEREAS, Congress should reallocate federal military outlays toward domestic human and environmental needs: fund low income housing, eradicate food insecurity, fund superior education from pre-school through college, convert the United States to clean energy, build high speed rail between U.S. cities, finance a full-employment jobs program, and increase non-military foreign aid; and

WHEREAS, promoting non-military solutions to global problems could reasonably be expected to reduce individual reliance on guns and violence in Lancaster City in addressing personal disputes and acts of desperation.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Lancaster recognizes the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2022 and urges Congress to honor the spirit of the International Day of Peace by dramatically cutting military spending and reallocate taxpayer funds taken from United States citizens and apply them toward the above-mentioned domestic needs.

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Lancaster requests the Clerk provide this resolution to the federal elected officials who represent Lancaster City.

ATTEST:                                                                                     CITY OF LANCASTER

____________________                                                         ___________________________

Bernard W. Harris Jr., City Clerk                                            Danene Sorace, Mayor

Inspired? We encourage you to work on getting your city or town council to pass a similar resolution for the International Day of Peace and the Campaign Nonviolence Action Days September 21-October 2. Also, check out what our other Nonviolent Cities are doing here.